Little Grandpa Man

Little boys in two-piece button up jammies are so cute I almost can't stand it. Gideon could get away with just about anything in these and I would be helpless to stop him.
He also makes me think of a little old man. Just a little bit.

He's Good Medicine

So today I woke up so super tired. Maybe from the marathon doctor's meeting yesterday or maybe I'm picking up the kids' cold. Who knows. So later in the day I laid down and closed my eyes for a short while. I could hear Gabe and Zion playing Legos at the kitchen table when I felt a little bump at my knee. I looked up expecting my third Little to need me for something. No. He was sweetly covering me with his blanky. His own blanky. Not one of the hundreds, at least dozens, we have laying around the house but his very own special blanky. Then he padded away and showed back up a few seconds later presenting me with his precious dog. Aw. But the sweetness didn't end there. Off he goes, I lay my head back down and suddenly he returns with his Elmo. Now I have all his favorite lovies. But a few seconds later he returns again and gives me his milk cup. I must be all taken care of by now. Nope. One more thing. He appears one last time and hands me a Baby Einstein board book he must have personally picked off the bookshelf just for me. My heart is practically bursting by now. What thoughtful gestures from a little guy who isn't even two yet.

Gideon Update

It's been a while since I've written about Gideon's allergies. I finally gave the doctor a push at his 18-month check to give us a referral to a pediatric allergist. And we finally had that appointment this morning. A marathon three-hour event not including travel time since the office is a few cities away. I really liked the doctor though and he really seems to be committed to bringing Gideon's symptoms to a halt no matter what. Right now Gideon's main symptoms are eczema, mostly up his back, which comes but doesn't really go and is sometimes worse but I can't remember the last time his back was eczema free, and diarrhea. It's not total liquid but it's way soft, smells horrible and requires a diaper change anywhere from 3-6 times a day. I know, more than you wanted to know but it was that symptom in particular that made me push for a specialist to see him. Gideon's original diagnosis of a "whey protein" allergy came at 11-months, 9 months ago and though the vomiting has stopped the eczema and GI problems are still here. I learned a lot about allergies today. About how they start, how they work, how they progress depending on the age of the patient (different symptoms at different ages even though the allergen may be the same)... So much that I couldn't have retained it all. The doctor gave me some websites and I already had some of my own so I've spent most of today reading and relearning. As the doctor has laid it out, here's our plan:

Step 1) Cut out ALL dairy, including hidden dairy which means reading labels and looking for "code words" for dairy (casein, whey, malt, some lactose stuff but not all...) It's in nearly everything, even lunch meat and hot dogs (unless you buy Kosher which I've been trying to do anyway). Previously his doctors insisted that we only need to cut out dairy like milk, cheese and yogurt and that processed dairy was fine.

Step 2) Give a multi-vitamin and probiotic daily. Even these items are difficult to find in a non-dairy form. Flintstone vitamins are OK but probiotics without dairy are few and far between (and expensive) so I'm still researching those.

Step 3) Keep the pets out of Gideon's room. Gideon also tested mildly allergic to dog and cat. :( Big bummer. So far the doc is only instructing us to keep the pets out of Gideon's room which won't be too difficult. I'll be praying that nothing more drastic will be required.

Step 4) A no-wheat trial if the GI issue doesn't clear up after eliminating dairy. Ugh. We tried this once before. It's a pain and expensive. Really, really expensive.

Step 5) Recheck in one month regardless of how the trial does (or trials do). At that point he may have blood work done (in the hospital some of his results were off, the assumption was that it was because he was sick at the time but maybe it was something else) and maybe another referral to a GI specialist.

So here we go and as much as this process can be frustrating and time consuming and energy consuming I'm relieved to have a plan and a direction. The last thing I wanted to do was ignore his remaining symptoms (as his regular pediatrician would have me do insisting that he'd grow out of them) and have them continue to develop into worse allergies or allergies to more things.

Tap The Obsession

Zion lately has become obsessed with washing the downstairs bathroom sink. I would often find the hand towel left in the sink, sometimes soaking wet and rendered completely worthless for any sort of drying. Once I even found her elephant, yes The Elephant, in the sink. She told me she was washing the sink with it. Nice.

Also lately I've been wondering what will make a good chore for Zion's first. Gabe started when he was 4 and has been feeding the dog twice a day since. I bought a flip top plastic bin and a measuring cup, yep, measuring was the task for him. Zion only just turned 3 but it felt like the timing was good to introduce a chore for her. Then it hit me. The sink! Why not just have her do what she's been doing all along only make it official?

So I knit Zion her very own Tribble which now resides on the back of the sink in that worthless perfect little shallow they make for soap. She "washes" the sink at least three times a day and proudly announces when she's doing so. So she has a new sense of purpose, my towels get stay high and dry and I get a somewhat cleaner sink (and a reason to knit). Win/win.

Woo Woo, All Aboard!

For the last few months I have been absolutely looking forward to one special event and it has nothing to do with the baby (OK, I'm looking forward to that too but still have about 5 months left). Quite a few months ago I learned that a local knitter's guild puts on an annual event called "Yarn Train". Do you see where I'm going here? Good.

So the organizers get a group ticket on Amtrak and then plan a walking tour of yarn stores in Portland including arranging for discounts with the store owners (sweet!). So my friend Jennifer and I stayed Friday night in Seattle so we didn't have the long drive to the city in the morning. We took the city bus to the train station, what an adventure for us "country bumpkins", arriving at 6:30 in the morning. The train ride to Portland took about 3 hours which of course we spent chatting and knitting. Once in Portland we found a place to have lunch and OH MY, it was good! Based on a recommendation of a fellow Yarn Trainer (the organizer no less) we hit The Tea Zone. I got the falafel and a Hot Cinnamon Latte, I could seriously be happy with a cup of THAT in my hand 24/7.

Our first stop was Knit Knot Studio where I found the absolute softest yarn for a blanket for this new little one I'm growing. I'm so bummed that I've got some projects I have to finish first, I canNOT wait to cast this blanky on and get it finished. The picture does not do the colors, or softness, justice. It's so beautiful!

Next we wander off to Knit Purl where I end up getting the majority of my new stash. Oh. My. Word. That place was so awesome. Wall to wall colors and textures. I don't understand why everyone doesn't knit (or crochet) just to have a reason to go into a place like this. Who could be depressed swimming in color like that. I picked up 4 skeins of Noro Silk Garden to knit a striped scarf (it's about 25% done right now), another skein of Noro for a Clapotis (a type of scarf), a skein of black lace yarn for Jamae's Christmas present - a jewelry frame, and another skein that was just so beautiful (and on clearance) but I haven't figured out what to make with yet - it will come. It's been a couple of months since I have really been actively knitting. I had developed pregnancy induced carpal tunnel that I thought would plague me the whole pregnancy but God blessed me with pain free hands for the last week or so. I'm hoping that for whatever reason I had it for a while it is gone for good as it was interfering with so much.

After leaving Knit Purl we decided to hit up Powell's Books. Big book stores aren't that unusual anymore thanks to the ginormous chains but Powell's is special. It's, oh, about a city block long, and multiple stories and just CRAMMED from top to bottom with new and used books of every sort. It's really awesome. I got a shawls, ponchos, and scarves book that is used and I can't wait to make something from. Oo, that gives me an idea for that multi-colored yarn. *smile*

By this point my stamina was rock bottom so we decided that we would pass on the last yarn store we could have visited but luckily it was also time for dinner. I suggested that The Tea Zone was so good we should go back for dinner so we did. hee hee. I got another Hot Cinnamon Latte - again (I wonder if they'd ship me a gallon or two). After that back to the train for another 3-hour knit session, another bus ride and another night in Seattle. *sigh* Pure bliss.

Were we done? Not quite. In no rush to get back home we decided to extend our little trip a bit and stopped at Seattle Yarn on the way back. Had I known how amazingly awesome their store was I might have held back a little of my trip budget. Wow. Wow. Wow! If I thought Knit Purl was color heaven, this place really knocked my socks off! Skeins and skeins just stacked and shoved in every nook and cranny and every one of them just gorgeous (should have taken pictures). I somehow managed to walk away with only one skein of Malabrigo sock yarn in Aquos. I don't knit socks (yet) but found a pattern for a spiral scarf that it will work for, it's going to be smashing!

After a quick bite for lunch at a yummy pub down the block (they always have the best fish and chips) we head for home. Two tired mommies excited to wrap their arms around their babies again - and cast on their next project! I'm already dreaming about doing the trip again next year.

Spa Day

Has anyone ever had their child's hair develop a slime coat? Well, a coating that is slimy when wet but then dries all crusty and chunky and weird. This happened to Zion's hair recently. The bottom four inches anyway. I wondered if it was from swimming all the time but I still couldn't figure out why. I mean, dry hair due to the pool chemicals yes, but weird slime? Weird. Well, one step short of cutting off her pretty hair I went out and found some special swim shampoo that is formulate to remove chlorine. On the day I resolved to scrub her hair clean I didn't really feel like giving her a full bath. I'm lazy like that. So with the prospect of laying her out on the kitchen counter to wash just her hair in the sink ahead of me I told her she was going to get a spa day.

I laid the fluffiest towel I could find out on the counter and had another hand towel to make a neck roll. Zion cooperated quite well. It may have been because I told her I would paint her fingernails afterward. And her toenails.

Which is exactly what we did. With her hair up in a towel and her hands on a pillow I painted all her nails a soft pink that my mother would have loved (and would have made me gag when I was younger). She loved her spa day.

Her hair is a lot better but I'm not entirely convinced it doesn't still feel a little slimy when it's wet but at least it's not drying crunchy. We have been on break from swim class over the holidays so we'll see after the next session is in full swing. What's the worst that will happen, Princess Zion will get another spa day. :)